From the Minister's Study
Samplings of Newsletter Columns by UU Ministers
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From James Ishmael Ford, First Unitarian Society, Newton, Massachussetts, 7/03/01

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A Real Suggestion
A "Monkey Mind" Column

Ever since we started our Henry Thoreau Zen meditation group well-wishers have been offering various bits of advice as to how we might succeed. Suggestions vary from how we can best use the space we have, what languages are appropriate for the liturgy parts, and on to whether we should actually do Zen meditation in our Zen meditation group when "most UUs would rather have a discussion group." (A real suggestion!) These are all the usual sorts of things Jan and I've heard the five previous times we've started Zen meditation groups within our Unitarian Universalist communities. Henry Thoreau, however, is the first group started with me as the "official" teacher, my now having formal sanction to teach Zen within a traditional lineage. So, perhaps the ante is a little up this time around.

Anyway, two different people gave suggestions that were a little different than usual and open suggestions that perhaps are worth giving some thought as just plain Unitarian Universalists. I was told twice that some of the more experienced meditators didn't like the "looseness" of the group as Jan and I lead it. They were surprised that there wasn't a strict expectation of timely arrival with the doors closed and locked at a prescribed time. These "old hands" also expected people to be told to hold still when they wiggled.

Zen groups often have such firm expectations. It isn't, however, how I present Zen practice. I like an open door, if not literally, at least with a sign on the door saying remove your shoes and come on in, quietly. The expectations I have are kindness and mutual support.

As the group matures most of us will, at least by my experience, begin to show up on time just exactly in order to support one another. Also, as our individual practice matures, we naturally come to wiggle less and less. I've never seen a need to yell at someone. They almost always are well aware they're wiggling. Time becomes the significant teacher in these things.

The practice really is kindness, to ourselves and to others. The practice is welcoming what is. The practice is intimacy.

Not unlike what we're about in general as UUs, I think. And that brings us to my subject for this week's column. With our hiring of a new membership/volunteer coordinator we are embarking on an era of ever more consciously committing ourselves to mutual care and support. So, this is also a reminder for us all not to be "old hands" who want it all just right, and now, thank you! Noreen, our new coordinator, is supposed to help us as we all try to be more welcoming, more inviting. But, the emphasis is on helping us do our job.

This is what we're all about in our Society: our job is intimacy. You and me. Most people walking a spiritual path eventually discover the path is in fact all about intimacy. And so it is here. As we gather together for reflection and renewal, what we often discover is how everything is about relationships. When I go to my Zen group, it is for me, but it is also for those people with whom I meditate. When I go to our Sunday worship, it is to meet my needs, and it is to help others meet their needs.

Our Unitarian Universalist way is a path of the open heart. Let's remember during the summer when we have visitors "church shopping" among us, and during the year when people are trying to find their way in to a large and sometimes confusing community; that our path is one of welcoming. Let's not hang a sign, literally or figuratively, that says "only the old crowd is welcome."

Let's try to look out for the newer among us. Let's do our best to help others find a place with us. As we do this, I truly believe, not only will we open our own hearts, but we will also open the doors to the realm of heaven.

Really!

Ever yours,

James